Contaminants within an electronic enclosure, such as a hard disk drive enclosure, can reduce the efficiency and longevity of the components within the enclosure. Contaminants including chemicals and particulates can enter the hard drive enclosure from external sources or be generated within the enclosure during manufacture or use. The contaminants can gradually damage the drive, resulting in deterioration of drive performance and even complete failure of the drive.
Consequently, data storage systems such as hard disk drives typically include one or more filters capable of removing or preventing entry of particulate and/or chemical contaminants in the air within the disk drive enclosure. One type of such filter is a recirculation filter, which is generally placed such that it can filter out contaminants from the path of airflow caused by rotation of one or more disks within the disk drive.